Kids Research knows how important health informatics and technology is in building an agile, responsive and contemporary healthcare system. As the research arm of the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, we are pushing the boundaries when it comes to implementing technology in how we care for children at our hospitals.

Big Data for Small People

A patient in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) generates one gigabyte of data a day and almost all of this data disappears and is never used. What the Big Data for Small People program aims to do is to capture this data and use it to improve critical care. Building a system that supports precision critical care for the sickest babies and children in our hospitals.

Lead by Associate Professor Justin Skowno, Senior Staff Specialist in Paediatric Anaesthesia at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, the program envisions a future where a clinician will have better access to a patient’s physiological data and link that information with other medical sources to enhance an automated digital infrastructure to improve care for critical patients across our hospitals.

The program has identified where and how data is wasted and a way to transform our current systems to do things better by using artificial intelligence. The system that is being built does not have to end with just patients in critical care. It will be built for future use throughout the hospital environment and wherever children receive medical care.

Using big data and artificial intelligence, Big Data for Small People will transform clinical care and produce better outcomes for sick kids. Please see Justin Skowno speak more about this program.

Learning Health System Initiative

The Learning Health System Initiative is a funding partnership between Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation and the University of Sydney. Led by Professor Tom Snelling, this initiative will develop a collaborative learning healthcare environment and will serve to be a national response to many critical and time-sensitive infections and diseases in Australia.

The initiative has three major focus areas:

• Children with serious bacterial infections
• Children with cystic fibrosis
• Children with lower respiratory tract infections

Clinical Trial Management System

A new Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) has been launched for all NSW public hospitals and health services who conduct clinical trials. The electronic infrastructure of the CTMS will reduce administrative burden, increase visibility of clinical trial activity and improve financial management.

The software system manages planning, performing and reporting functions, and maintains participant trial information, tracking deadlines and milestones for streamlined trial management.

REDCap

Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) is a self-managed, secure, web-based solution designed to support data collection strategies for research studies.

The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network use REDCap.